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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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https://archive.org/details/testimonyoffiveoOOamer 


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XVMERICAI  TIUCT  SOCIETY. 

NEW  YORK,  150  NASSAU-STREET,  OCTOBER,  1857. 

The  following  documents  will  place  before  the  careful 
and  candid  reader  the  constitutional  basis,  the  past  his¬ 
tory,  and  the  general  principles  of  the  Society,  and  en¬ 
able  him  to  see  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  its  present 
course. 


TESTIMONY  OF  FIVE  OF  THE  SOCIETY’S  FOUNDERS. 


1 

■  nw 


iil.i!!" 


'vy  i.irvli 
pi  - ''  ,!!  ' 

Pint 

lipii 

lliiliiiii 

'iEr  i 

Ipi'ipiijlipiili  l; 

'ifliP- 

i-i’r?  Ip'iii; 

iPiiiSilili 


iW>j  si: 


'iV 

'I 

igllii-l: . y;h‘;  -  i'!l! i:::; 
'isf  ■■il'-.-i 

Plli  iij -i  I'm-:";?: 

'  iPittiiij-uijiijr':* 

iilli 


-“‘liht'iil  C'-jj;:";]:; ; 

iliisillii-i 
|ii’ 


l.ll  k;i..  : 


I 


iiiiillllll,: 


HISTORICAL  FACTS  LIMITING  ITS  ISSUES  TO  PUBLICA¬ 
TIONS  IN  WHICH  EVANGELICAL  CHRISTIANS  AGREE. 

1.  The  Society  is  not  an  individual^  hut  a  body  cov'porale,  a  'public  trusty 
for  an  object  prescribed  and  limited  by  its  constitution.  An  individual 
may  claim  liberty  to  use  his  money  for  all  purposes,  or  squander  it, 
as  he  pleases.  A  trustee  is  bound  by  the  laws  of  God  and  man  to 
fulfil  his  trust,  not  diverting  a  farthing  to  any  other  object.  The 
Bible  Society  can  employ  its  means  only  to  issue  the  Bible  “  without 
note  or  comment  the  orphan  asylum  only  for  orphans  ;  tlie  exec¬ 
utor  only  for  the  heirs  or  legatees  of  the  deceased. 

2.  What  is  the  prescribed  object  of  this  Society  ?  Its  constitution 
defines  it  to  be  “to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Clirist  as 
the  Redeemer  of  sinners,  and  to  promote  the  interests  of  vital  godli¬ 
ness  and  sound  morality.” 

3.  By  what  means  and  limitationsl  Its  constitution  declares,  “By 
the  circulation  of  religious  tracts  calculated  to  receive  the  approba¬ 
tion  of  ALL  EVANGELICAL  CHRISTIANS.”  Tlus  carefull  v  S(‘lected  language, 
five  of  the  surviving  active  founders,  and  the  whole  Executive  Com¬ 
mittee  with  the  President  and  Secretaries,  testify  in  a  public  docu¬ 
ment  (Ann.  Rep.  1856,  p.  193)  was  understood  by  the  founders,  and 
has  ever  been  understood  and  acted  on  by  the  Committee  as  binding 
the  Society  in  good  faith  to  issue  only  such  pulilicatiuns  as  evingel- 
ical  Christians  throughout  our  country  do  in  fact  unite  in  approving.''^  In 
the  same  Annual  Report,  page  22,  the  Executive  Committee  reaffirm 
this  “  sacred  compact  which  binds  the  Society  to  peace  with  all  Cod’s 
redeemed  people  in  seeking  the  glory  of  Christ  in  the  salvation  of  the 
perishing,”  and  say,  “  It  has  been  adhered  to  in  all  the  Society’s 
harmonious  course,  on  which  the  blessing  of  God  has  so  richly  rest¬ 
ed  and  they  add,  “Nothing  can  change  these  historical  verities.” 
Evidently  essential  as  it  was  to  avoid  denominational  contention,  it 
was  and  evei^has  been  no  less  so  to  avoid  political,  sectional,  and  other 


if..» 

W 

H 


2 


strifes  often  more  violent  and  absorbing.  That  it  ^yas  the  intent  of 
the  above  language  of  the  Constitution  to  guard  against  collision  on 
any  and  every  subject  sundering  true  Christians  from  each  other,  is 
not  known  to  have  been  questioned  by  any  one  through  a  period  of 
nearly  thirty  years.  If  “  contemporaneous  testimony  is  valid  in  law,” 
this  would  seem  to  be  conclusive. 

As  a  further  limitation,  the  Constitution  provides  that  the  Society 
shall  annually  elect  a  Board  of  Directors  ;  that  this  Board  shall  elect 
an  Executive,  including  a  Publishing  Committee  ;  that  ‘‘the  Publish¬ 
ing  Committee  shall  contain  no  two  members  from  the  same  ecclesi¬ 
astical  connection,”  and  that  “-/io  trad  shall  he  published  to  which  any 
member  of  that  committee  (now  consisting  of  six  pastors  of  churches) 
shall  object^  By  this  prescribed  method,  and  this  alone,  can  publica¬ 
tions  be  issued.  With  the  free  exercise  of  the  judgment  of  the  re¬ 
spective  members  of  this  Committee,  thus  accorded  to  them  in  the 
Constitution,  no  act  of  the  Society  has  ever  indicated  any  claim  or 
wish  to  interfere. 

There  is  another  implied  limitation,  delicate  and  beautiful,  though 
not  expressed  in  terms,  Christian  confidence,  vital  to  the  Society’s  ex¬ 
istence  in  its  true  character,  and  which  God  graciously  granted  and 
has  long  continued.  At  the  time  of  the  Society’s  formation,  such 
harmon}^  had  prevailed  for  twenty-six  years  in  the  parent  Tract  So¬ 
ciety  in  London,  and  characterized  all  the  prominent  benevolent 
institutions  then  springing  up  in  our  country  to  bless  the  world.  So 
essential  was  such  harmony,  that  without  the  expectation  of  it  this 
Society  would  not  have  been  formed.  Its  Executive  Committee  have 
ever  felt  called  of  God  to  keep  “  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace,”  in  fulfilment  of  the  Saviour’s  prayer,  “that  they  all  may  be 
one,  that  the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent  me  and  this 
harmony  they  have  universally  inculcated  in  every  branch  of  the 
Society’s  operations  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  They  have  uttered 
no  word  of  unkindness  to  any  ;  carried  no  act  into  effect  in  opposi¬ 
tion  to  the  known  will  of  any  one  of  their  number  ;  and  every  act  of 
the  Society,  till  May  1856,  was  unanimous. 

4.  These  limitations  apply  equally  to  what  is  published  on  all  subjects, 
whether  Christian  doctrines  or  morals,  church  polity  or  ordinances, 
intemperance,  freemasonry,  or  slavery  ;  and  bind  the  Committee,  in 
reference  to  any  subject  whatever,  to  select  and  issue  only  such  tracts 
as  promise  usefulness  and  the  harmonious  consent  of  evangelical 
Christians  :  their  silence  as  to  errors  lying  beyond  these  limits  in  no 
respect  implying  approval.  In  the  convention  which  originally 
adopted  the  Constitution,  and  in, the  formation  of  the  Society,  Chris¬ 
tians  from  the  north  and  from  the  south  were  cordially  united.  It 
was  then  as  distinctly  understood  that  the  above  limitations  applied 


8 


to  tracts  referring'  to  slavery  as  to  any  other  topic  ;  and  the  earlier 
publications  show  that  the  Society  was  then  as  much  restricted  in  its 
issues  on  that  subject,  as  it  has  been  in  any  part  of  its  history.  On 
this  and  all  subjects  the  Committee  have  freely  inculcated  the  un¬ 
questioned  teachings  of  the  Bible — all  its  teachings  indeed,  in  the 
very  words  of  Inspiration,  with  plain  scriptural  comments  ;  and  the 
various  allusions  to  this  subject  in  the  great  practical  treatises  of 
Baxter,  Bunyan,  Flavel,  Doddridge,  Edwards,  and  many  others  se¬ 
lected  for  publication,  have  never,  so  far  as  known,  been  either  omit¬ 
ted  or  objected  to  by  any.  On  these  publications,  circulated  through¬ 
out  our  country,  God  has  graciously  set  his  seal  by  the  converting 
and  sanctifying  influences  of  his  Holy  Spirit. 

These  facts  and  principles  are  the  basis  on  which  this  Society 
has  stood  and  must  stand  ;  to  which  all  the  contributions  and  lega¬ 
cies  it  has  received  have  been  consecrated  ;  and  to  which  it  is 
pledged  by  the  most  solemn  obligations  man  can  assume. 

The  Publishing  Committee  have  never  understood  these  princi¬ 
ples  and  limitations  as  excluding  from  their  attention  suitable  Tracts, 
pertaining  to  any  subject  whatever.  When  it  had  been  urged  that 
more  ought  to  be  published  on  duties  or  evils  connected  with  slav¬ 
ery,  they  said  in  the  Annual  Report,  May  1856,  that  while  “it  seemed 
to  have  been  understood  by  the  whole  community,  that  the  subject 
of  slavery  in  its  aspects  of  political,  national,  and  sectional  strife  could 
not  be  discussed,  yet,  should  a  tract  be  presented  referring  to  ‘  duties 
or  evils’  connected  with  the  subject,  'in  which  evangelical  Christians, 
north  and  south,  would  agreed  and  wliich  promised  usefulness,  they 
knew  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  published.”  They  also  inti¬ 
mated  their  readiness  to  discontinue  three  small  books  in  which  the 
omission  of  a  few  lines  was  objected  to,  which  books  they  have  since 
agreed  not  to  reprint. 

Their  careful  attention  to  a  proposed  treatise  on  the  “Duties  of  Mas¬ 
ters”  until  insuperable  objections  arose  to  their  issuing  it,  not  only  from 
two  of  its  authors,  but  involving  the  hazard  of  dismembering  the  Soci¬ 
ety  by  cutting  off  nearly  one-half  of  its  field  of  usefulness  with  no  war¬ 
rant  or  anticipation  of  such  an  event  by  the  Society  itself,  appears  in 
their  published  statement  of  September  10.  Objections  to  issuing  such 
a  Tract  came  both  from  the  south  and  the  north — from  tlie  south,  be¬ 
cause,  in  the  present  political  and  sectional  agitations,  the  people  will 
receive  no  instructions  on  the  subjeetTrom  the  north,  and  because  such 
a  tract,  borne  by  any  colporteur  or  distributer,  would  be  liable  to  be  re¬ 
garded  as  an  incendiary  document — objections  from  many  at  the  north 
to  a  discussion  of  these  duties  which  would  imply  no  condemnation 
of  slavery  itself ;  and  from  many,  both  north  and  south,  who,  while 


4 


they  deplore  the  evils  connected  with  slavery,  object  to  the  Society’s 
thus  departing  from  its  legitimate  principles  and  work. 

Thus  have  the  Committee  omitted  no  reasonable  endeavor  to 
issue  on  these  “duties”  as  much  as  the  Society’s  principles  allow  ; 
while  they  have  not  departed  from  those  principles,  or  been  recreant 
to  the  responsibilities  under  which  they  act.  And  may  not  the  ap¬ 
peal  be  made  to  all,  of  every  name  and  locality,  cheerfully  to  accord 
to  the  laborers  in  this  work  the  priceless  immunity  and  inalienable 
right  in  this  favored  land,  thus  peacefully  to  continue,  according  to 
the  dictates  of  conscience,  under  their  time-honored  Constitution,  these 
heaven-blessed  endeavors  to  obey  their  Redeemer’s  ascending  com¬ 
mand,  “  Go  ye,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,”  and  claim  his 
promise,  “  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.” 

The  above  record  of  facts,  deemed  due  at  the  present  time  to  the  members  of 
the  Society  and  the  Christian  community,  is  made  on  the  responsibility  of  the  live 
surviving  founders  of  the  Society,  who  are  still  members  of  the  Committee  or  Sec¬ 
retaries  :  Kev.  Dr.  Knox  and  ]\Ir.  E.  T.  Haines,  Chairmen  of  the  Publishing  and 
Finance  Committees  ;  Mr.  Moses  Allen,  Treasurer  ;  Eev.  Dr.  Sommers,  Eecording 
Secretary  5  and  Eev.  William  A.  Hallock,  Corresponding  Secretary. 


LETTER  OF  JUDGE  WILLIAMS. 

An  official  document  of  the  officers  of  the  American  Tract  Society 
having  been  submitted  to  their  President  the  Hon.  Thomas  S.  Will¬ 
iams,  recently  Chief  Justice  of  Connecticut,  he  wrote  in  reply  : 

*  *  *  ngy  words  of  your  constitution,*  the  tracts  published 
were  to  be  such  as  are  ‘calculated  to  receive  the  approbation  of  all 
evangelical  Christians.’ 

“There  is  no  complaint  that  the  tracts  you  have  published  are 
not  such  as  receive  the  approbation  of  all  evangelical  Chri.<tians,  but 
the  objection  is  raised,  that  you  do  not  publish  as  you  ought  on  the 
subject  of  slavery. 

“The  question  then  arises,  whether  the  Society  consistently, 
within  the  limits  of  their  constitution,  by  which  they  must  be  regu¬ 
lated,  could  publish  such  tracts  as  the  complainants  propose  ? 

“Are  such  tracts  calculated  to  secure,  or  ‘receive  the  approba¬ 
tion  of  all  evangelical  Christians?’ 

“The  Society  was  to  be  denominated  ^ Amcrictn.'’  It  w'as  intended 
to  know  no  North,  no  South  ;  it  was  intended  to  embrace  all  denom¬ 
inations  designated  evangelical,  nay,  more,  all  Christians  who  could 
be  considered  as  evangelical. 

“Now  that  there  are  churches  of  every  denomination  called  evan¬ 
gelical,  scattered  over  all  our  southern  states,  as  well  as  individual 

*  The  word  “charter”  in  the  original  letter,  is  changed,  by  request  of  the 
writer,  to  “constitution.” 


■  5 

Christians,  wlio  would  not  approve  of  publications  of  the  cliaracter 
proposed,  is  well  known.  Some  may  oppose  them  upon  principle, 
some  upon  the  a,’round  of  expediency,  some  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and 
some  waitinp;  a  more  favorable  time  ;  but  whatever  the  motive,  tlie 
great  mass  of  individual  Christians,  and  of  Christian  clmrclies,  we  have 
reason  to  believe,  would  say  that  such  tracts  did  not  receive  the  appro¬ 
bation  of  all  evangelical  Christians  among  them.  What  then  should 
the  American  Tract  Society,  with  their  constitution  for  their  guide,  do  ? 

“Shall  they,  without  other  evidence,  denounce  all  these  churches, 
and  all  these  individuals,  as  not  evangelical?  What  authority  have 
they  for  this  ;  and  how  would  such  a  sentence  be  regarded  in  courts 
of  justice  ? 

“When  this  Society  was  incorporated  by  the  name  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Tract  Society,  I  will  venture  to  say,  that  no  one  who  voted  for 
that  charter  supposed  that  there  were  no  evangelical  churches  of 
any  denomination  south  of  the  Potomac,  or  that  the  effect  would  be 
to  confine  its  operation  to  the  free  states.  It  was  a  well-known  fact, 
that  the  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  Congregationalists,  Methodists, 
Baptists,  and  Reformed  Dutch,  as  a  body,  were  known  as  evangelical. 
The  constitution  therefore,  which  speaks  of  evangelical  Christians, 
refers  to  these  denominations,  not  intending,  however,  to  exclude 
other  evangelical  Christians. 

“Now,  unless  these  southern  churches  of  these  various  denomina¬ 
tions  have  renounced  their  creed,  or  been  denounced  by  the  ecclesi¬ 
astical  tribunals  to  which  they  belong,  it  seems  to  me  that  they  must 
be  treated  as  of  the  same  faith  ;  and  that  the  officers  of  the  Tract 
Society  have  no  right  to  say  they  are  not  evangelical  Christians  ; 
and  if  so,  the  Tract  Society  would  be  bound  to  issue  no  tracts  which 
would  not  be  calculated  to  secure  their  approbation. 

“  The  sentence  of  excommunication  which  some,  in  their  heat, 
have  pronounced  against  southern  ministers  and  southern  churches, 
is  ex-cathedra  ;  and  officers  acting  under  your  constitution  would 
not,  in  my  opinion,  be  justified  in  law  or  conscience,  in  adopting  it. 
If  these  southern  churches  remain  evangelical  churches,  and  southern 
Christians  are  still  evangelical  Christians,  it  is  their  right,  and  your 
duty,  to  abstain  from  publishing  even  truths,  the  publication  of 
which  they  would  not  approve  ;  and  I  much  misunderstand  the 
instrument  under  which  you  act,  if  those  who  are  dissatisfied,  how¬ 
ever  they  may  complain  of  the  constitution,  have  any  reason  to  com¬ 
plain  of  the  course  pursued  by  those  whose  actions  must  be  regulated 
by  it. 

“Very  sincerely  and  respectfully  yours, 

“THOS.  S.  WILLIAMS." 


“Hartford,  February,  1856.” 


TO  OUR  ENDEARED  FELLOW-WORKERS, 

THE 

AGENTS,  SUPERINTENDENTS,  AND  COLPORTEURS  OF 
THE  AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY. 

Brethren  Beloved — There  arise  occasions  when  it  is  important  for 
those  engaged  in  a  widely  expanded  enterprise  to  enjoy  a  more  full 
and  free  interchange  of  thought  and  affection  than  is  possible  by  a 
brief  and  infrequent  correspondence.  The  present  divided  state  of 
the  Christian  mind  as  to  the  position  our  beloved  institution  should 
occupy  upon  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  exciting  questions  of  the 
day,  seems  to  furnish  such  an  occasion. 

Most  gladly  would  we,  were  it  possible,  call  our  hundreds  of  co¬ 
workers  together  in  some  quiet  corner  of  the  land,  away  from  the 
noise  and  clamor  of  excited  disputants,  and  laying  aside  every  ques¬ 
tion  of  discussion,  cluster  about  the  cross,  and  looking  up  to  the  face 
of  our  redeeming  Saviour,  plead  with  one  voice  for  a  new  baptism  of 
the  divine  Spirit  to  fit  us  for  our  great  work.  As  we  cannot  enjoy 
this  privilege,  let  us  strive  to  bring  our  hearts  and  minds  into  unison 
by  a  common  word  of  counsel  and  encouragement.  Such  is  the  aim 
of  this  letter,  prepared  especially  for  your  information,  in  which  you 
will  see  some  of  the  reasons  which  have  influenced  the  Executive  in 
their  recent  action. 

Learning  a  few  weeks  since  that  some  of  our  fellow-laborers  from 
different  sections  of  our  wide  land  would  be  in  or  near  the  city  about 
the  same  time,  it  was  thought  desirable  to  secure  a  conference  of 
such  brethren  at  the  Tract-house.  Accordingly  on  the  1 8th,  1 9th, 
and  20th  of  August,  representatives  from  the  New  York,  Boston, 
Rochester,  Philadelphia,  Charleston,  New  Orleans,  St.  Louis,  and 
Chicago  fields,*  from  half  a  dozen  different  denominations,  held  a 
most  delightful  meeting  for  consultation  and  devotion,  the  results  of 
which  we  present,  brethren,  for  your  encouragement  in  your  ardu¬ 
ous  work.  If  we  shall  succeed  in  conveying  at  all  an  adequate  idea 
of  the  harmony  and  Christian  affection  which  characterized  our  meet¬ 
ing,  we  are  sure  it  will  cheer  your  hearts. 

«  Present,  Eev.  Dr.  N.  W.  Groertner,  Secretary,  and  Mr.  H.  N.  Thissell,  Super¬ 
intendent,  Philadelphia ;  E.  L.  Kerrison,  Esq.,  Sup.,  Charleston;  Eev.  Eandolph 
A.  Smith,  Gen.  Agent,  New  Orleans  ;  Eev.  Charles  Peabody,  Gen,  Agent  and  Sup., 
St.  Louis;  Eev.  Yates  Hickey,  Gen.  Agent  and  Sup.,  and  Eev.  S.  Warren,  Gen. 
Agent,  Chicago ;  Eev.  A.  M.  Stowe,  Gen.  Agent,  Western  New  York ;  Eev.  C. 
Foote  and  Eev.  C.  Evans,  Gen.  Agents,  Southern  New  York  and  New  Jersey  ;  Eev. 
A.  Savage,  Gen.  Agent,  Connecticut ;  and  Eev.  Seth  Bliss,  Sec.,  Boston ;  with  the 
occasional  attendance  of  members  of  the  Executive  Committee. 


1 


COLPORTAGE. 

Tlic  first  thciiiG  discussod,  and  for  some  five  Lours,  was  Colpor- 
TAGE — its  true  idea,  and  the  means  of  increasing  its  effidency. 

This  is  ill  some  sense  the  right  arm  of  our  power  as  a  Society  ; 
for  while  many  faithful  men  and  women  are  voluntarily  scattering 
these  pages  of  evangelical  truth  in  tract  visitation,  by  far  the  larger 
amount  of  our  issues  is  brought  into  contact  with  the  minds  of  men 
by  colportage  ;  hence  the  importance  of  a  just  view  of  what  colpor- 
tage  should  be. 

The  brethren  were  unanimous  in  the  conclusion,  that  colportage, 
in  its  true  conception,  is  neither  upon  the  one  hand  a  mere  book¬ 
selling  business,  thus  degrading  it  to  the  level  of  a  worldly  transac¬ 
tion,  estimating  our  success  by  the  number  of  volumes  sold  ;  nor  upon 
the  other,  is  it  a  mere  running  to  and  fro  of  pious  men,  exhorting 
and  praying  in  every  family,  and  carrying  books  and  tracts  chiefly 
as  a  means  of  gaining  access  to  the  people  ;  but  rather,  it  is  a  happy 
combination  of  personal  effort  and  the  power  of  the  press  to  bring 
truth,  divine  truth,  and  therefore  soul-saving  truth,  impressively, 
widely,  and  permanently  into  living  contact  with  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  masses. 

The  true  colporteur  has  an  experimental  knowledge  of  God  in 
Christ,  feels  and  manifests  the  life  of  God  in  his  own  soul,  and  burn¬ 
ing  with  zeal  for  the  glory  of  his  Saviour,  longs  to  bring  others  to  an 
acquaintance  with  him  ;  yet  not  relying  simply  nor  mainly  upon  his 
own  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  nor  his  power  to  communicate  it 
effectively  to  others,  he  brings  to  his  aid  the  best  thoughts  of  the 
holiest  men,  and  in  a  printed  and  permanent  form  leaves  in  the  fam¬ 
ilies  these  discreet,  quiet,  ready,  direct,  pungent,  tireless,  immortal 
preachers,  to  urge  the  claims  of  Christ  from  day  to  day  and  Sabbath 
to  Sabbath  while  he  is  pressing  on  to  other  destitutions. 

The  spirit  of  the  colporteur  is  the  soul-loving  Spirit  of  Christ ;  the 
work  of  the  colporteur  is  to  impart  a  knowledge  of  Christ ;  the  chief, 
though  by  no  means  the  exclusive  medium  of  that  knowledge,  is  the 
'printed  page. 

With  such  a  conception  of  this  agency,  and  such  men  to  carry  it 
forward,  may  we  not  expect  the  most  blessed  and  large  results  to  the 
glory  of  God  ? 

That  this  instrumentality  may  be  made  more  efficient,  by  finding 
larger  numbers  of  intelligent,  earnest,  and  godly  men  to  engage  in  it ; 
that  we  should  appeal  to  men  of  some  means,  who  can  rely  partly  upon 
their  own  resources  for  a  support  to  enlist  in  this  self-denying  work  ; 
that  colportage  is  adapted  to  all  states  of  society,  to  cities,  villages, 
and  farming  communities,  to  regions  where  the  church  has  been  long 


8 


established,  and  to  new  settlements  where  the  church  is  not  yet 
found,  though  not  perhaps  with  equal  promise  of  results  to  each  ; 
and  that  it  must  be  extended  onward  and  outward  with  increased 
energy  and  hopefulness — were  points  discussed  with  much  interest 
and  great  unanimity. 

Dear  brethren,  let  us  with  renewed  faith  dedicate  ourselves  afresh 
to  the  great  work  before  us,  arduous  and  self-denying  as  it  is.  “  He 
that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless 
come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him.” 

MESSENGER,  BOTSCHAFTER,  AND  CHILD’S  PAPER. 

A  second  theme,  the  usefulness  of  the  American  Messenger,  The 
ChihVs  Paper,  and  the  Botschafter,  occupied  for  a  time  the  attention 
of  the  conference,  during  which  many  facts  of  deep  interest  and  en¬ 
couragement  were  mentioned  by  the  brethren,  showing  their  power 
for  good  wherever  circulated.  Of  these  organs  above  500,000  are 
printed,  and  when  we  remember  that  probably  two  millions  of  im¬ 
mortal  minds  are  brought  under  their  influence  monthly,  all  over  this 
land  and  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  language  fails  to  express  the 
reach  of  their  results.  Unceasing  gratitude  to  God  for  the  privilege 
of  employing  such  a  mighty  instrumentality  for  him  !  Cannot  our 
many  friends  who  love  these  periodicals,  and  appreciate  their  power 
for  good,  extend  still  more  widely  the  range  of  their  influence  ?  And 
cannot  our  agents  and  colporteurs,  without  interfering  with  other 
organs  of  usefulness,  or  turning  aside  from  their  own  great  work, 
increase  the  number  of  their  readers  ? 

Brethren,  we  commend  the  suggestion  to  your  prayerful  thoughts. 

TRUE  INTENT  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

A  third  theme  now  claimed  the  attention  of  the  brethren  con¬ 
vened  :  namely,  the  appropriate  sphere  of  the  Society  as  defined 

AND  LIMITED  BY  THE  CONSTITUTION.* 

This  topic  was  examined  fully  and  freely,  each  brother  expressing 
his  views  at  length  and  without  restraint ;  and  though  coming  from 
all  sections  of  our  country,  and  of  course  somewhat  under  local  influ¬ 
ences,  to  our  surprise  and  joy  the  conclusion  reached  by  every  mind 
was  precisely  the  same.  Nor  yet  should  this  appear  strange,  when 
we  note  the  fact,  that  the  governing  article  of  the  Constitution  is  so 
explicit  and  unambiguous  as  to  be  capable  of  but  one  construction. 

“Art.  I.  This  Society  shall  he  denominated  the  American  Tract  Society,  the 
object  of  which  shall  be  to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
Redeemer  of  sinners,  and  to  promote  the  interests  of  vital  godliness  and  sound  mo¬ 
rality,  by  the  circulation  of  Religious  Tracts  calculated  to  receive  the  approbation 
of  all  evangelical  Christians.  ” 


9 


THE  SOLE  OBJECT  OP  THE  SOCIETY. 

AYitli  tliat  articlo  before  tlie  eye,  “the  diffusion  of  tlie  knowledge 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Clirist  as  tlie  Redeemer  of  sinners’^  is  seen  to  be 
the  object,  the  aim,  the  design,  the  purpose,  before  the  Society.  To 
make  known  “  Clirist  crucified,”  and  by  tlie  power  of  this  miglity  truth 
“to  promote  the  interests  of  vital  godliness  and  sound  morality,”  is 
the  sum  of  our  duty,  and  every  thing  outside  or  beyond  this  one 
simple  object,  this  one  definite  aim,  is  unauthorized  by  the  Constitu¬ 
tion,  The  American  Tract  Society  is  not  a  church,  banded  together 
to  contend  for  the  whole  truth  which  its  members  might  think  im¬ 
portant  and  its  creed  demand,  nor  a  combination  of  churches  to  pro¬ 
mulgate  what  as  churches  they  might  agree  in  holding  in  common. 
Nor  is  it  a  society  banded  together  to  publish  upon  any  and  every 
subject,  nor  even  upon  every  subject  in  which  its  individual  mem¬ 
bers  may  agree  ;  but  it  is  a  combination  of  good  men  for  a  specified 
object,  and  that  object  unmistakably  defined  and  strictly  limited, 
“  To  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  Christ,”  we  repeat,  is  that  object.  It 
cannot  therefore  be  made  an  organ  of  any  system  of  religious  or 
moral  reform,  nor  do  aught  else  than  “diffuse  a  knowledge  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Redeemer  of  sinners,  and  promote  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  vital  godliness  and  sound  morality.” 

MODE  OF  ACCOMPLISHING  THAT  OBJECT. 

But  further,  not  only  is  the  object  of  the  Society  thus  restricted, 
with  ecpial  explicitness  and  emphasis  does  the  Constitution  define 
the  manner  in  which  it  shall  aim  to  accomplish  that  object. 

The  Society  is  forbidden  by  the  organic  law  to  publish  any  tract 
which  is  not  “  calculated  to  receive  the  approbation  of  all  evangeli¬ 
cal  Christians.”  “  The  approbation,”  not  of  churches,  of  sections,  of 
parties,  but  of  “  Christians,”  of  “evangelical  Christians,”  of  “all  evan¬ 
gelical  Christians,”  is  an  essential  condition  in  its  issues. 

And  this  limitation  is  vital,  inasmuch  as  the  very  existence  of  the 
Society  depends  upon  the  agreement  of  Christians  in  the  character 
of  its  publications.  Unlike  a  church  organization,  which  is  bound 
together  by  an  extended  creed,  forms  of  worship,  frequent  meetings, 
power  of  discipline,  educational  feeling,  and  denominational  and  an¬ 
cestral  attachments,  and  can  therefore  maintain  its  integrity  in  the 
midst  of  great  diversity  of  opinion  among  its  membership,  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Tract  Society,  without  any  of  these  bonds,  continues  to  exist 
only  by  unanimity  of  thought  and  feeling  among  its  friends. 

Discussion  and  even  sharp  contention  may  work  out  good  results 
in  a  compact  and  strong  church  organization  ;  but  they  work  out 
disaster  and  death  to  a  voluntary  society  of  good  men  who  are  united 
to  accomplish  a  definite  object  in  a  specified  way,  and  who,  in  the 


10 


very  instrument  which  gives  them  existence  as  a  society,  are  bound 
to  hold  in  abeyance  their  diversities  of  opinion.  To  throw  itself  into 
the  discussion  of  questions  yet  unsettled  among  evangelical  Chris- 
tions,  is  to  disregard,  contemn,  and  trample  under  foot  the  law  which 
gives  it  being.  It  were  fratricide  and  suicide  in  one  act.  Harmony — 
harmony  in  judgment,  harmony  in  feeling,  harmony  in  action,  is  the 
prerequisite  to  membership,  the  informing  spirit  of  union,  the  con¬ 
trolling  spirit  of  progress,  nay,  the  very  lifeblood  of  existence  to  the 
Society.  Hence  the  importance  of  these  words  in  the  Constitution, 
the  approbation  of  all  evangelical  Christians,”  and  hence  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  securing  that  approbation.  To  'prmch  Christ  in  such  manner 
as  to  secure  the  approval  of  all  good  Tuen,  is  the  object  and  aim  of  the  Society, 
as  defined  in  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitution. 

THE  PAST  COURSE  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE. 

Another  point  considered  in  the  conference  was  this:  Has  the 
Executive,  in  the  past  history  of  the  Society,  understood  the  Constitution  as 
thus  definite  in  its  object  and  thus  limited  in  the  manner  of  pursuing  that 
object  ? 

A  brief  examination  convinced  all  that  from  the  beginning  the 
Executive  had  ever  acted  on  this  construction  of  the  Constitution. 

Of  the  large  amount  of  religious  literature  issued  by  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Tract  Society  in  thirtj^-two  years,  perhaps  ninety-nine  hun¬ 
dredths  is  directly  in  accordance  with  the  great  object,  “to  diffuse  a 
knowledge  of  Christ  crucified.”  But  a  fraction  of  its  publications 
have  been  upon  subjects  which  may  be  called  collateral. 

The  Secretary  in  the  publishing  department,  who  in  counsel  with 
others  drew  the  Constitution,  and  who  has  edited  every  publication 
ever  issued  by  the  Society,  assured  the  meeting  that  the  Executive  had 
never  issued  book  or  tract  except  such  as  they  expected  would  re¬ 
ceive  the  approval  of  the  great  mass  of  evangelical  Christians,  and 
that  such  approval  had  been  given  for  long  terms  of  years  almost 
without  exception  ;  not  that  all  treatises  written  on  any  subject 
would  be  thus  acceptable,  but  what  the  Committee  had  selected  and 
issued  had  proved  to  be  so.  Should  the  Committee  err  in,  judgment, 
and  publish  some  treatise  which  evangelical  Christians  could  not 
sanction,  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  would  compel  them  to  sup¬ 
press  the  issue. 

This  testimony,  in  connection  with  the  character  of  the  publica¬ 
tions  themselves,  proves  irrefutably  the  strict  construction  the  Exec¬ 
utive  has  ever  given  to  the  organic  law. 

REASONS  AGAINST  CHANGE  OF  POLICY. 

With  this  exposition  of  the  Constitution,  sustained  by  the  history 
of  the  Society  from  its  origin,  we  are  prepared,  as  was  the  confer- 


11 


cnco,  to  oxainine  anotlior  question  :  Should  the  Exemtive  dx'part  from  its 
unraried  ^vinciph  and  practice,  for  the  puipose  of  noiv  gicing  a  more  dis¬ 
tinct  utterance  on  Slavery'? 

1.  Tliis  is  a  serious  question,  and  should  have  a  careful  consider¬ 
ation,  A  line  of  policy  which  for  a  third  of  a  century  has  met  the 
approval  of  almost  all  good  men,  and  secured  the  evident  favor  of 
a  merciful  and  gracious  God,  resulting  in  the  conversion  of  many 
souls  and  the  large  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  should  not 
be  inconsiderately  broken  up  for  an  untried,  and  to  say  the  least,  a 
doubtful  alternative.  Discussions  upon  that  subject  are  not  promo¬ 
tive  of  harmony  among  even  the  best  men  in  our  day,  nor  is  it  a 
hopeful  theme  upon  which  to  dwell  where  the  salvation  of  the  soul 
is  the  one  object  before  the  mind. 

2.  Does  it  not  appear  unreasonable  to  require  this  Society,  re¬ 
stricted  as  it  is,  to  attempt  to  give  instructions  upon  a  subject  which 
the  most  faithful  and  pious  minister  from  one  section  of  our  country, 
would  not  deem  it  wise  to  attempt  in  a  pulpit  of  another  section  of 
our  country?  Our  friends  should  know  and  admit  the  truth  tliat  no 
publication  of  this  Society,  distinctly  upon  that  subject,  could  find 
entrance  at  the  South.  No  colporteur  there  could  safely  sell  or  give 
away  such  a  treatise,  in  the  present  state  of  feeling  on  the  subject. 
In  this  we  simply  state  an  incontrovertible  fact. 

3.  It  would  seem  a  sad  necessity  for  a  society  whose  sole  object 
is  “to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Re¬ 
deemer  of  sinners,  and  to  promote  the  interests  of  vital  godliness 
and  sound  morality,”  to  be  compelled  to  spend  its  strength  upon  a 
theme,  however  important,  confessedly  collateral  to  the  great  object, 
while^  there  are  so  many  other  channels  for  that  discussion,  and  soci¬ 
eties  existing  for  that  express  purpose. 

4.  A  departure  from  our  line  of  action  hitherto,  not  only  does  not 
promise  good,  but  surely  involves  far-reaching  evil. 

The  issue  of  a  single  book  upon  that  subject  now,  would  instant¬ 
ly  array  one  half  our  friends  against  the  other  half ;  drive  out  of  the 
whole  South  our  nearly  three  hundred  colporteurs,  superintendents, 
and  agents  ;  exclude  our  laborers  and  volumes  from  the  seven  or 
eight  millions  in  the  South  who  are  neither  slaveholders  nor  respon¬ 
sible  for  the  system  ;  and  effectually  close  up  the  ten  thousand  chan¬ 
nels  through  which  our  other  issues  are  now  flowing  freighted  with 
blessings  to  millions  there. 

This  is  not  the  working  of  fancy,  excited  by  fear.  We  are  not 
afraid  to  do  right ;  but  our  fear  is  to  do  a  vast  and  irreparable  wrong 
to  the  basis  of  our  union  as  a  society,  and  to  souls  perishing  for  the 
bread  of  life  ;  and  we  know  this  result  is  certain,  if  we  yield  to  tho 
demands  now  so  persistently  urged. 


12 


Does  some  one,  excited  by  bis  conception  of  the  wrongs  of  slav¬ 
ery,  and  indignant  at  tlioso  who  tolerate  it,  say,  “Well,  if  the  South 
is  so  sensitive  and  so  unreasonable,  let  it  go,  let  it  go?”  We  think 
not  so,  brother.  Our  blessed  Saviour  spoke  not  so  to  our  lost  race 
when  it  was  rushing  madly  away  from  him,  saying,  “  Let  it  go,” 
The  Holy  Spirit  said  not  so  to  our  sinful  souls  during  the  long  years 
of  our  effort  to  escape  his  saving  influences.  No,  blessed  for  ever 
be  His  name,  he  still  followed  us  with  winning  calls,  and  at  length 
sweetly  subdued  us  by  his  long-suffering  love.  Should  we  not  hum¬ 
bly  imitate  this  divine  example  in  our  efforts  to  save  others?  So  it 
seems  to  us.  And  we  are  afraid  to  adopt  any  other  course.  Is  not 
the  fear  of  doing  wrong,  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  the  beginning  of 
wisdom  ? 

Rut  if  the  preceding  reasons  against  a  revolution  in  the  practice 
of  the  Society  were  insufficient,  or  even  without  weight  altogether, 
there  is  another  argument  absolutely  unanswerable. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  FORBIDS. 

5.  Tht  a'p'prohation  of  Christians  over  our  country  cannot  he  secured 
to  any  publication  upon  that  subject  at  the  present. 

Christians,  evangelical  Christians,  the  best  Christians  of  the  land, 
are  at  this  moment  in  total  disagreement  upon  almost  every  phase  of 
the  subject.  Witness  the  argumentations  in  books,  newspapers,  pul¬ 
pits,  and  the  forum,  in  the  city  and  in  the  country,  in  the  steam-boat 
and  the  rail-car,  in  the  street  and  in  the  house,  everywhere,  and  by 
all  classes.  Witness  the  nature  and  results  of  these  discussions,  in 
angry  feelings,  unhap |)y  alienations,  and  broken  friendships — in  dis¬ 
severed  families,  and  dismembered  churches.  We  do  not  cite  these 
things  to  defend  them.  Nay,  it  is  a  disgrace  to  the  intelligence  and 
piety  of  the  age  that  Christian  men  cannot  discuss  every  subject 
affecting  the  cause  of  Christ,  calmly,  dispassionately,  affectionately. 
We  do  not  cite  them  to  show  that  slavery  should  not  be  discussed  in 
fitting  time  and  place,  but  simply  to  show — and  this  they  do  indu¬ 
bitably — that  this  Society  should  not  plunge  into  the  discussion. 

The  whole  argument  can  be  stated  in  few  words.  The  approval 
of  evangelical  Christians  is  an  essential  condition  of  all  our  issues  ; 
this  approval  cannot  now  be  secured  to  any  specific  issue  upon  that 
subject ;  hence  the  Society  cannot  publish  specifically  upon  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  slavery  at  the  present. 

We  add  this  remark :  this  conclusion,  based  as  it  is  upon  the 
present  state  of  opinion  and  feeling  in  the  church,  is  valid  while  that 
state  continues.  The  day  may  come  when  evangelical  Christians 
will  agree  substantially  in  their  views  on  slavery,  as  they  now  do  on 
other  great  questions  once  held  in  dispute,  and  when  publications 


on  tliiri  subject  ciin  be  issued  in  conformity  with  the  Constitution 
and  with  the  ho})C  of  doing  good. 

ANNIVERSARY  ACTION. 

One  question  alone — but  this  a  vital  one — remains  :  Did  not  the 
Society  at  the  last  anniversary,  with  the  Constitntion  and  these  facts  before 
them,  yet  positively  direct  the  Dxecntive  to  go  forward  and  publish  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  regardless  o  f  consequences  ? 

The  brethren  answered,  We  do  not  so  understand  the  action,  taken 
as  a  whole  and  construed  consistently  with  itself.  It  contains  no  pos¬ 
itive  and  peremptory  order  to  publish,  regardless  of  consequences. 
We  ask  you  to  consider  the  following  suggestions  with  the  resolu¬ 
tions  before  you. 

The  first  four  attempt  to  draw  the  line  of  discrimination  between 
what  the  Society  may  and  may  not  publish  on  the  subject  of  slavery  ; 
the  fourth  expresses  the  opinion  that,  Avhile  its  “political  aspects” 
must  be  utterly  avoided,  certain  “moral  duties”  and  “moral  evils 
and  vices”  growing  out  of  it,  can  and  ought  to  be  discussed  in  a  fra¬ 
ternal  and  Christian  spirit.  This  is  expressed  as  an  opinion,  not  as 
an  order.  And  then,  lest  this  judgment  of  the  Society  should  lead 
the  Committee  to  adopt  a  course  which  might  limit  the  range  of  the 
Society’s  usefulness  and  destroy  its  unity,  by  cutting  off  from  the 
field  of  its  operations  a  part  of  our  land,  the  ninth  resolution  is 
added  in  the  nature  of  a  guard  or  limitation.  “With  great  confidence 
in  the  wisdom  of  the  Executive,”  the  Society  anticipates  “that  their 
action  in  carrying  out  the  principles  contained  in  the  previous  reso¬ 
lutions,  will  be  such  as  will  tend  to  promote”  its  “widest  and  best 
usefulness  throughout  our  whole  country.”  That  is,  in  brief,  there  is 
a  certain  thing  which  the  Society  think  can  and  ought  to  be  done, 
and  it  wishes  the  Committee  to  do  it,  unless  the  doing  it  would  Avork 
great  injury. 

This  is  what  the  action,  tahen  as  a  whole,  seems  to  us  to  mean  ; 
this  is  what  the  Constitution  demands,  and  Avhat  the  Executive  in 
good  faith  have  striven  to  accomplish.  Can  any  one  believe  that  the 
Society  meant  to  direct,  or  even  advise  the  Executive  to  go  forAvard 
and  publish  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  in  disregard  of  providential 
indications,  and  at  every  risk,  even  though  it  should  destroy  the  basis 
of  its  OAvn  being  ?  Surely  no  one. 

A  NEW  STATE  OF  THINGS. 

But  if  any  mind  doubts  whether  this  is  a  fair  construction  of  the 
Society’s  action,  and  claims  that  in  vieAV  of  all  the  facts,  the  Society 
did  direct  the  Executive  to  go  forward  and  publish  specifically  upon 
certain  aspects  of  slavery,  let  us  grant  it  to  such  a  mind  and  admit 


14 


that  the  Society  gave  specific  instructions  in  the  then  existing  state  of 
things.  This  granted,  we  aver  that  a  new  state  of  things  has  arisen 
since  the  action  of  the  Society,  which  renders  it  impossible  to  pub¬ 
lish  without  a  direct  and  palpable  violation  of  our  Constitution. 

That  disagreement  of  views  upon  this  subject  has  existed  all 
along  among  evangelical  Christians  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  since 
May  last,  this  disa-greement  among  the  friends  of  this  Society  has 
been  amazingly  developed.  For  the  first  time  since  the  organization 
of  the  Society,  has  there  come  up  from  one  half  our  land  a  unanimous 
and  earnest  remonstrance,  from  large  and  influential  ecclesiastical 
bodies  ;  from  the  religious  press  of  eveiy  denomination  ;  from  agents, 
superintendents,  and  colporteurs,  and  from  numerous  highly  intelli¬ 
gent  Christian  gentlemen  of  every  name,  protesting  that  any  pub¬ 
lication,  in  the  present  state  of  opinion  and  feeling,  would  be  re¬ 
garded  as  a  violation  of  our  organic  law,  and  actually  and  speedily 
disruptive  of  the  union  and  harmony  of  the  Society.  Nor  is  this  idle 
clamor.  We  have  already  lost  some  of  our  valued  and  long-tried 
laborers,  and  others  insist,  against  our  earnest  entreaties,  that  they 
must  retire  from  the  work,  as  their  way  is  hedged  up  and  their  use¬ 
fulness  destroyed  by  the  suspicions  already  aroused. 

We  are  not  called  upon  to  justify  this  state  of  things,  but  simply 
to  state  the  facts  for  the  consideration  of  all  society-loving  and  soul- 
ioving  men. 

In  these  circumstances,  as  developed  since  the  anniversary,  which 
neither  the  Society,  nor  the  Executive  could  have  foreseen,  however 
much  members  of  either  might  have  feared  it,  the  Committee  is  placed 
in  a  new  position,  “fairly  belonging  to  that  extreme  class  of  cases  in 
which,  owing  to  new  complications  or  unforeseen  circumstances,  an 
agent  may  deviate  from,  or  entirely  suspend  action  upon  the  instruc¬ 
tion  of  his  principal.  There  is  a  certain  discretion  of  this  kind  that 
is  legitimately,  and  we  may  say,  necessarily  reserved  in  almost  every 
species  of  delegated  trust.  It  is  now  certain  that  a  different  feeling 
exists  upon  this  subject,  than  was  supposed  by  the  Society  when  it 
framed  its  resolutions  in  May  last.”  And  it  is  absolutely  certain  that 
in  carrying  them  out,  on  the  strict  construction  above  admitted,  the 
approl)ation  of  evangelical  Christians  cannot  be  secured.  Shall  the 
Executive  then  go  forward,  and  by  so  doing  rend  the  Society  into 
fragments,  cut  off  from  our  efforts  one  half  of  our  sad  destitutions, 
and  drive  the  ploughshare  of  division  through  our  Constitution  and 
across  our  wide  land?  or  shall  they,  in  accordance  with  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  that  Constitution,  and  in  accordance  with  their  past 
history,  press  on  in  the  one  great  mission  of  preaching  “Christ  cru¬ 
cified  ?”  Surely  the  latter  is  the  path  of  duty. 


15 


THE  AVIIOLE  TRUTH  CONTEMPLATED  BY  THE  CONSTITU¬ 
TION  PUBLISHED. 

Uefoi’c  leaving  this  to])ic,  it  is  important  to  note  tliat  the  Execu¬ 
tive  have,  for  tliirty-two  years,  hccn  doing  incidentally  and  substantially, 
though  not  in  form,  what  the  action  of  the  Society  seems  to  require. 

“floral  duties’’  and  “moral  evils  and  vices,”  whether  they  arise 
from  slavery  or  other  institutions  good  or  bad,  have  been  discussed  in 
scores  of  publications  and  in  thousands  of  copies  for  years  past,  and 
in  the  way  thought  to  be  most  efficient  for  good.  The  “moral  duties” 
of  justice,  humanity,  chastity,  reverence,  veracity,  temperance,  and  all 
others  enjoined  in  the  word  of  God,  are  continually  enforced  in  our 
publications.  The  “moral  evils  and  vices”  of  injustice,  cruelty,  licen¬ 
tiousness,  profanity,  lying,  intemperance,  and  all  others  condemned 
in  the  word  of  God,  are  condemned  in  our  publications,  either  in  dis¬ 
tinct  treatises  or  by  incidental  remarks.  How  fully  this  is  done,  in 
the  very  order  approved  of  God,  finds  an  illustration  in  the  “Family 
Bible,”  with  notes  edited  and  issued  by  the  Society,  and  in  many 
other  works.  There  is  great  injustice  therefore  in  the  charge  that 
the  Executive  suppress  vital  truth  from  fear.  They  have  no  fear  in 
the  discharge  of  duty  ;  but  according  to  the  Constitution  under 
which  they  act,  they  publish  the  truth  and  the  whole  truth  contem¬ 
plated  by  the  terms  of  that  instrument  which  gives  them  being.  The 
love  of  souls,  the  love  of  Christ  forbids  any  other  course. 

Such,  brethren,  was  the  conclusion  reached  by  the  conference 
unanimously,  after  a  discussion  of  some  ten  or  twelve  hours,  and  such 
we  confidently  believe  will  be  the  conclusion  yet  reached  by  all  true 
and  earnest  friends  of  the  Society.  To  them  we  leave  the  question, 
while  we  press  forward  in  our  heaven-blessed  work. 

ECONOMY. 

Passing  to  a  fourth  general  theme,  the  brethren  considered  for  a 
time  the  importance  of  rigid  economy  in  the  working  of  our  institution, 
so  using  the  Lord’s  money  as  to  produce  the  largest  revenue  of  glory 
to  him. 

This  will  be  promoted  by  a  careful  use  of  all  means  put  into  our 
hands  by  the  benevolent  donors  ;  by  a  sedulous  watchfulness  over 
the  stock  in  our  agencies  and  in  the  hands  of  colporteurs  ;  by  keep¬ 
ing  the  amount  of  stock  on  hand  as  low  as  is  consistent  with  a  vigor¬ 
ous  prosecution  of  the  work ;  by  speedy  returns  to  the  parent  Society  of 
the  avails  of  sales ;  and  by  the  employment  in  every  department  of 
self-denying,  whole-hearted,  and  earnest-hearted  men. 

During  this  session,  a  member  of  the  Finance  Committee  made  an 
earnest  appeal  to  the  agents  present  to  redouble  their  efforts  in  the 
collection  of  funds,  lest  we  should  be  crippled  in  our  work,  stating 


16 


tliat  the  Society  were  in  debt  for  printing-paper  forty  thousand 

dollars,  payable  within  six  months  ;  and  urged  a  rededication  of  our¬ 
selves  and  our  means  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 


CONCLUSION. 


After  some  general  remarks  upon  the  importance  of  great  patience 
and  forbearance  under  trials,  of  more  trust  in  God,  and  more  love  to 
men,  and  more  zeal  for  souls  ;  and  after  a  mutual  and  free  expression 
of  fraternal  Christian  affection,  adverting  to  the  fact  that,  though  of 
different  names  in  Christ’s  house,  we  are  all  members  of  the  one  body, 
all  belonging  to  the  one  Head,  and  looking  forward  with  joyful  hope 
to  the  day  when  we  shall  all  meet  in  our  Father’s  house  to  go  no 
more  out,  and  after  committing  ourselves,  our  families,  the  cause, 
renewedly  to  Him,  the  brethren  separated  to  their  work,  and  warfare, 
and  reward, 

Ud  y  the  same  spirit  animate  all  the  friends  of  the  Society. 

“  Brethren,  farewell ;  be  perfect,  be  of  good  comfort,  be  of  one 
mind,  live  in  peace  ;  and  the  God  of  love  and  peace  shall  be  with  you.” 

WM.  A.  HALLOCK,  ^ 

0.  EASTMAN,  >■  Secretaries. 

J.  M.  STEVENSON,  ) 

New  York,  September  23,  1857. 


ESSENTIAL  POINTS  PRESENTED  IN  THE  ABOVE 

DOCUMENTS. 

1.  The  Society  is  a  sacred  compact,  before  God  and  man,  to  issue 
only  those  truths  of  salvation  in  which  evangelical  Christians  agree, 
as  the  Bible  Society  is  a  sacred  compact  to  issue  only  the  Bible 
“without  note  or  comment.” 

2.  The  Society  can  and  does  present  all  duties,  sins,  and  evils,  as 
fully  as  they  are  presented  in  the  Bible,  and  in  the  very  language  of 
Im-piration. 

3.  By  refraining  from  a  formal  discussion  of  those  points,  or 
phases  of  any  subject  whatever,  on  which  true  Christians  differ,  it 
neither  condemns  what  is  right,  nor  approves  what  is  wrong  on  these 
points,  because  they  lie  beyond  the  prescribed  limits  of  its  action. 

4.  No  contests  are  more  bitter,  or  more  absolutely  to  be  avoided, 
than  those  blended  with  political  or  sectional  strife.  This  is  illus¬ 
trated  in  the  present  absorbing  national  contest,  in  which  the  moral 
and  the  jiolilical  bearings  of  slavery  are  inseparable. 

Will  not  men  of  all  parties  and  localities  accord  to  the  laborers 
in  this  SocieW  the  privilege,  not  to  say  the  inalienable  right,  thus 
peacefully  to  unite,  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience, 
in  making  known  their  Redeemer’s  name  ? 


PAMPHltT  BINDER 

Syrocuse,  N.  Y. 
3;^  Stockton,  Colif. 


DATE  DUE 


ntC  2^ 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 

